- Natalie Harp is President Trump's 35-year-old executive assistant and special assistant — a near constant presence and one of his closest aides.
- She first drew notice after crediting Trump's Right to Try law for saving her life, then joined his advisory boards and his staff in 2022.
- Known as the "human printer," she follows Trump with a portable printer, manages Truth Social posts, and sometimes posts controversial content without review from other staff.
- She recently joined Trump on a secret flight when other administration officials were left on a plane thought to be targeted by Iran.
President Donald Trump’s executive assistant, Natalie Harp, has spent years as a near-constant presence at his side, all while keeping a relatively low profile. But lately, she’s been getting a lot more attention.
Interest surged after Harp was revealed to be among the small group of aides selected to accompany the president on a secret flight amid threats from Iran, even as top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, remained aboard what became a decoy plane. Then this week, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff invoked Harp in a political attack against the president, drawing even more attention to her particularly close relationship with Trump.
Who is this key White House figure, exactly, and how did she become one of Trump’s closest aides? Here’s what we know.
So, who is Natalie Harp?
The 35-year-old’s path into Trump’s inner circle has been anything but conventional.
Harp grew up in a conservative Christian household in California and graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2012 before earning an MBA from Liberty University in 2015. Roughly a decade ago, she was also diagnosed with Stage 2 bone cancer — an experience that would ultimately help bring her into Trump’s orbit.
She first attracted Trump’s attention in 2019 after appearing on Fox & Friends and crediting his 2018 Right to Try law — which allows some seriously ill patients to access experimental treatments — with saving her life. (She hasn’t publicly said exactly which therapies she received.)
Trump subsequently invited her onstage at a Faith & Freedom Coalition event, and she later served on an advisory board for his 2020 campaign and spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Harp went on to work as a host for the conservative One America News Network before joining Trump’s staff in 2022. Since then, she has become a near-constant presence at his side, including throughout the 2024 campaign and into his second term.
Her devotion to Trump has definitely raised a few eyebrows. Videos obtained by The New York Times reportedly show Harp sprinting across his golf course in Scotland to keep up with his cart. And in October 2023, when there wasn’t room for her in Trump’s motorcade to a New York City courthouse, CNN reported that Harp got into a screaming match with staffers and, after being denied a seat, ultimately rode in the trunk of an SUV rather than be left behind. That level of loyalty has at times made some Trump aides uncomfortable, according to CNN. In letters to Trump in 2023, Harp reportedly wrote, “You are all that matters to me.”
Even her own family has expressed concern about her unusual attachment to Trump. Her estranged brother, Preston Harp, told CNN that he believes his sister has an “unhealthy obsession” with the president, though he said he doesn’t think her feelings are romantic. Instead, he described her as someone who has long been fascinated by presidents and deeply admires what Trump represents.
What does Harp do, exactly?
Harp officially serves as a special assistant and executive assistant to the president — her title spells out both of these roles separately — a taxpayer-funded position that pays her $150,000 a year. But she’s better known within Trump’s orbit as the “human printer.” And yes, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Harp follows the president around with a portable printer, so she can hand him hard copies of news stories, social media posts, and other information he wants to see.
But her role goes well beyond printing papers. Harp is often in the room for Oval Office meetings and is one of a small number of aides with direct access to Trump’s Truth Social account. Trump sometimes dictates messages for Harp to type up and post from her iPhone, and she’s reportedly learned to mimic his distinctive cadence and punctuation.
Her role managing Trump’s social media has occasionally caused friction inside the White House. According to The Wall Street Journal, Harp has frustrated officials by not routinely sharing drafts of Trump’s social media posts with his chief of staff, communications aides, or national security officials before they go live. She was also the one who, at Trump’s direction, posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, as well as an AI-generated image of Trump as a Christ-like figure. Both were later deleted after sparking backlash.
Beyond social media, Harp has also become something of a gatekeeper to the president. Lawmakers and other influential figures contact her to get information directly to Trump. The WSJ also reports that one of the quickest ways to get something directly in front of him is through Harp. One person close to the White House even described her cellphone number as more “precious” than Trump’s. “She always responds. I don’t know how she manages it all,” one unnamed source told CNN.
What did Jon Ossoff say about Harp?
Harp’s unusually close relationship with Trump has even started making its way onto the campaign trail.
At a recent event, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff invoked her while attacking Trump for what he characterized as a lack of focus on the presidency. “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar,” Ossoff said, drawing a loud response from the crowd in Georgia.
The jab came shortly after Harp drew renewed attention for accompanying Trump and a small group of close aides during his secret transfer from Air Force One to another aircraft via catering truck amid a potential Iranian missile threat.
When a CNN reporter asked Trump about Ossoff’s comments on Monday, he didn’t address the substance of the criticism. Instead, he insulted Ossoff’s appearance and lashed out at the reporter for asking about it.
In a statement to The Washington Post, White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended Harp as “one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President Trump’s team” and dismissed Ossoff’s remarks as “cringeworthy.” Others in Trump's circle have also come to her defense, including his son, Eric Trump, who called her a "genuinely good person."
